[The Princes IX] [Siege, Part II] Si and the other boys jumped up and down on the wall screaming battle cries at the top of their lungs as their new Daraian friends moved among the wounded enemy soldiers ending their suffering; the Ravens were swift and merciless in their work. The Black Guard regrouped and formed a new perimeter near the front gate while Prince Tarin walked around the Daraians trying to pretend they weren’t there. Lord Tolnor and his people moved down the line of boy-warriors passing out fresh ammunition. Tarin walked to his son still jumping up and down and Si jumped into his father’s arms. “Did you see us, father?” shouted Si. “Did you see us?” “I saw, you were fearless, I am very proud of you.” “Did you see the Ravens too?” asked Si. “What were those guns they had?” “Those are Falcon Splinter Guns,” said Tarin, “and they are illegal on most worlds to include this one.” “Why? asked Si. “They are awesome.” “They have a one-thousand round disintegrating belt that fires needle-like projectiles that splinter apart and do horrendous damage,” explained Tarin. “I want one!” said Si. Tarin hugged his blood-thirsty prodigy and promised to buy him ten of the Falcon Splinter Guns. Akio ran up and coughed to get Si’s attention. “We need to move the perimeter to fit with the Black Guard perimeter,” said Akio. “They won’t give us much time before they counter-attack.” “My Lord,” said one of the Ravens walking up to Tarin. “I recommend Sionnach’s army move back into the streambeds and you pull your Black Guard to the far garden wall. Let the enemy come through the gates and over this wall, they will be trapped in an L-ambush and with the main gates that go around the Palace grounds, there will be no place for them to retreat except back through the killing zone.” Tarin didn’t acknowledge the Daraian but did scan the grounds, it was a good plan, though he would be damned if he would give the vile creature any credit. Tarin shook his head in disgust, war made strange allies.” “Akio, move your forces back into that streambed,” ordered Tarin. Prince Tarin hugged his son one more time and went to order his own forces back for the ambush. Akio called the boys and they ran back to the streambed with the Daraians following them. Two Ravens lay down to the sides of Si and Seph had to crawl over one of the Ravens to wedge in next to Si, Marshal pushed his way in on the other side. The boy-warriors didn’t have long to wait before the next wave of invaders poured through the main gates and charged at the wall. Akio motioned for everyone to wait while the enemy assault moved over the wall and into the open ground looking for Si. Si lay on his back holding his long rifle, his legs started trembling again and he looked to his left and right, the other boys looked just as scared as he felt. But the comfort of knowing the Ravens were next to them helped calm his army. Akio peeked over the top of the bank, the enemy was in the killing zone. “Fire!” The boys rolled over and crawled up to the top of the bank and opened fired on the assaulting forces. Again, the tremendous explosive fire of the ancient weapons rained a wall of lethal lead at the invaders. The Daraians opened fire with their Falcon Guns, and the Black Guard fired their Tridents. Si really wanted to know how the Tridents worked. The Trident seemed to firing something that looked like shiny drops of water at the enemy, it was actually a beautiful sight, as if a deadly summer ocean gale swept the enemy away. The ambush had been more successful than Tarin could have imagined, very few of this wave of attackers escaped to run from the carnage. The boys cheered their battle cry and a few fired rounds into the air. “Cease fire!” screamed Akio. “Don’t waste bullets.” Si watched the surviving attackers running; his blood was fire. He didn’t want to lay in the dirt, the attackers were traitors, they had destroyed the Palace-his home. He was a Kitsune Emperor, and he wouldn’t cower in the dirt anymore. Si stood and screamed, “Charge!” Akio tried to stop him, but Si charged and his army jumped up and followed. Tarin felt the call of battle as well and yelled his own charge to his men. Tarin quickly caught up with his son and the Princes of House Kitsune, the orphan-warriors, the Black Guard, and the Daraians chased the fleeing attackers across the road in front of the Palace. Lord Wolf’s headquarters wasn’t expecting a counter-attack from the Palace and was taken completely by surprise, as was the hundreds of soldiers he had with them. There was no plan, no thought, other than the years of combat training the Princes had, they charged into the enemy ranks of unprepared soldiers and wrecked a path of destruction through the traitorous army. Si fired until he had no more bullets to fire and then pulled his sword and continued the charge. Si wasn’t really thinking about where he was going, but Tarin and the Black Guard realized they had surprised Lord Wolf’s headquarters and charged for it. Lord Wolf ran to a Needle ship and escaped, his headquarters was over-run by Tarin and the Black Guard. Si couldn’t believe how fast the Daraians could move, at times they even appeared to have wings and were flying, or gliding, after the fleeing army. Lord Wolf’s army was in complete retreat for the far trees. Tarin called for a halt, chasing the army of traitors any further would be foolish, Lord Wolf would be sure to have reinforcements in city and they were already too far from the Palace. Si stopped running and Akio shouted for the orphan-warriors to gather on Si. Akio organized the boys into a perimeter and they turned around for the march back to the Palace. Tarin was also organizing his men for the march back. The Ravens followed and diverted from the column and converged on a Raven kneeling on the ground holding the body of another Raven. Si hadn’t thought of the possibility of casualties, he looked around at his own warriors trying to figure out if he had lost anyone. Si looked at Akio questioningly. “Three,” Akio said sadly. “They are back near the road, Lord Tolnor’s people will help them if they can.” Si watched the Ravens gathering around their fallen one. The Raven holding the lifeless Raven gently placed the Daraian on the ground and stood, embraced several of the others, and then started walking towards the trees where the enemy soldiers fled. The other Ravens picked up the body and walked back towards the Palace. Si watched the lone Raven disappear into the trees and thought the enemy was going to have a very bad night. The Black Guard was carrying four of their own and Tarin was calling everyone to head back to the Palace. Si started to feel sick and many of the other boys didn’t look all too well either. Half-way back Si couldn’t hold his stomach anymore and bent over and threw-up; many of the boys followed suit. The two Ravens that Si was starting to recognize as the ones that were always staying close to him stopped next to him. “The adrenaline in your blood is making you feel sick,” said the Raven. “It will pass.” Si made it back to the Palace and Akio organized them in a different streambed. Si collapsed on the ground, he felt so tired. Lord Tolnor appeared a short time later with food, water, and ammunition for the boys. The boys nibbled on their food, but everyone was too tired to care much about food. Tarin walked among the boys and talked to a few of them. Word arrived that only one of the three boys that fell during the battle was still alive and would recover. Si curled up in a ball, he had lost two of his orphan-warriors and now he felt sick again. Si glanced around for his father, he was at the other end of the dry streambed talking with Akio; Si closed his eyes and fell asleep with Seph next to him. Si felt someone pick him up and cradle him, he opened his eyes and saw his father’s face. Tarin held his son and rocked him, he wished more than anything there was a way out of this for Si. “What do we do now father? mumbled Si. “You know we can not surrender,” said Tarin. “They will put us all to the sword.” “We fight to the end?” asked Si. “I’m sorry, Si, but yes, it is all we can do,” said Tarin. Tarin held his son for a long time and then got up to go with the Black Guard. “I’m going out with the scouts,” said Tarin. “I’ll be back shortly.” The rest of the afternoon passed with the boys napping on the banks of the dry stream. Si thought it was very nice here, looking up at the sky, it is no wonder the fat lazy goldfish liked it here. Si woke as the shadows started to grow longer and the air turned cool. He wondered if they would have to sleep outside, that would be nice, thought Si, I’ve never slept outside before. Marshal showed up with two plates of food and gave Si and Seph the plates. “What’s going on?” asked Si. “Did they give up?” “Akio says our Samurai Legions arrived on the far side of the city and there has been fighting, but there isn’t anyone near us, I guess we beat them hard enough they don’t want to come back.” “Where’s my father?” asked Si. “He hasn’t come back yet,” replied Marshal, “and I heard some of the Houses loyal to Lord Wolf have pulled their support, at least one Battle Carrier in orbit left.” Si’s appetite was better and he ate more than he had earlier. He was nearly finished with his meal when the night sky turned to day in a blinding flash of light. Si looked up wondering if the security lights had come on. The Ravens with the boys all started shouting at once and Si’s two Ravens grabbed him and threw him and Seph to the bottom of the dry stream bed. “Everyone get in the ditch!” the Ravens shouted and shoved boys to the ground. Si looked up and saw several Black Guard jumping behind walls and Lord Tolnor threw three boys in next to Si before jumping in and covering as many boys with his body as he could. Then the world exploded. A wind, hotter than anything Si had ever felt swept across them and the ground rolled. The wind roared and knocked down many of the ruined walls of the Palace. Si tried to look up but his Raven pulled Si tight under his black leather coat. Si touched the coat and realized it wasn’t leather, it was some kind of flexible armor. The roaring wind died down and Si tried to get up but the Raven held him. “It’s not over yet,” said the Raven. “Stay down.” A moment later the wind returned and Si could hear things falling around them. The Raven cried out in pain once but continued to hold tight to Si. Finally the wind ended and the Raven rolled off Si. Si crawled up to the top of the stream bank and looked around. Bricks, rocks, and trees lay everywhere, and oddly, a chair Si had never seen before was sitting several feet from the stream bank. Si didn't understand what he was seeing. The city in the distance was on fire; the entire city. Si thought he could see a massive column of smoke rising from somewhere on the other side of the city. Akio was screaming for everyone to get up and move. Si stood, confused, what had happened? Si’s Raven grabbed his arm. “You have to get to the tunnels,” urged the Raven. “What happened?” asked Si. “They used a nuclear weapon on your Samurai Legions,” explained the Raven, “but fortunately we were twenty or so miles from the detonation.” “Then we are safe?” asked Si. “No, you have to get everyone to the tunnels,” said the Raven. “The battle you won today weakened House Wolf’s position, they are desperate, if he has another bomb, we are next.” Si finally understood, a nuclear explosion. “Run!” screamed Si. “Go to the firing range.” Si grabbed Seph. Seph was just staring at the burning city in shock and Marshal didn’t look much better. “I need you,” Si screamed in Marshal’s face. Marshal shook his head and his eyes focused. Marshal ran down the line of boys grabbing arms and yelling for them to follow him. Si looked at the Black Guard near them. They were also just staring at the burning city. “We have a safe place to hide,” yelled Si. “Come on.” Si pulled Seph along with him and the two Ravens and as many of the Black Guard as Si could find, following behind him. Akio led the boys while Marshal ran to the back of the column of boys to make sure everyone was coming. Lord Tolnor was at the blast door waiting when they arrived and everyone ran down the stairs to the lowest levels of what remained of the Palace. Si stopped at the door and looked back. “My father,” said Si. “We have to wait for him.” “I’m sorry, Si,” said Akio. “Your father and mine went into the city with the scouts.” Si stepped through the door and Akio pulled it shut. Lord Tolnor tried to pick Si up but he brushed him away. “You’re not my father,” said Si angrily. Si walked down the stairs with Seph next to him, Seph took Si’s hand and Si collapsed on stairs, crying. Seph sat down next to his cousin and waited for Si. Lord Tolnor followed after the rest of the boys and Akio stood at the door and waited; he didn’t want Si to try and go back outside looking for Tarin. “We should go down now,” said Akio. “This door might not hold if there is another bomb.” Si got up and walked down the stairs. The chamber at the bottom was chaos. Some boys cried, some of the men cried, the Ravens were huddled together off by themselves, and Si just stood in shock. Lord Tolnor and his people checked for injuries and tried to comfort as best they could. Marshal was sitting with several of the boys and Akio walked off alone. Then the ground heaved and rolled, the ceiling leading up to the blast door collapsed and that very likely saved everyone. Though none of them would ever know, the blast door had blown off and was on its way down the stairs when the ceiling collapsed on top of it and prevented the super-heated blast wave from ever reaching the chamber far below. Everyone was thrown from their feet and several more side rooms collapsed, but the main chamber held. The ground stopped moving, the chamber was dark. Someone thought to turn on a flashlight and then others felt around for flashlights. Si looked up at the ceiling. This time he knew what had happened. Far above them a nuclear blast had destroyed the Palace. They were trapped underground and nobody was going to come look for them. Nobody up there still alive even knew of this place. Si sat down on the floor; it was all over. House Kitsune, the oldest House on Kitsune, had fallen. Seph pushed in close and wrapped his arms around his cousin, he knew what it meant too. Si closed his eyes and wondered how long it would take to die. Several minutes passed, or maybe several hours, Si didn’t know. “Hey Si,” said Seph. “Look.” Si opened his eyes and looked in the direction Seph was pointing; a dozen beams of light were approaching them from deeper in the tunnel. “Maybe some of the boys went down there to explore,” said Si. “Nobody went down there,” said Seph. “I’ve been watching, even Lord Tolnor is just sitting on the floor, he doesn’t even know what to do.” The beams of light came closer and stopped just outside the group of survivors sitting on the floor. “Is Emperor Sionnach here?” said a voice. Si stood, faced the voice and drew his sword. “I am Emperor Sionnach Tarin Aguienth,” said Si, “I will not surrender, come and fight me.” “I am Lord Sparrow,” said the voice ignoring Si's challenge. “Lord Raven brought me here two months ago to prepare the six ships your father put down here eight-hundred years ago and forgot. Bring food, weapons, blankets, and what other supplies you wish. There will be a mushroom cloud above us right now and we can use that for cover to escape.” The beams of light turned around and went back the way they had come. “It’s true,” said one of the Ravens. “Lord Raven has been planning your escape for months.” Lord Tolnor recovered from the shock of the news first and started shouting orders. “Akio, use those roll-carts against the wall,” ordered Lord Tolnor. “Bring all the crates of guns and ammunition. Marshal, you get your boys to start loading the food.” Lord Tolnor continued giving orders and getting everyone organized. Nobody told Si and Seph what to do so they decided to follow the beams of light. The tunnel was dark and Si wished he had thought to bring a flashlight. He was about to turn back when he thought he saw light ahead. The tunnel curved slightly and slowly, more light appeared until the tunnel was brightly illuminated from light pouring through a large open door ahead. The boys stopped at the door and looked into a large cavernous chamber. Si recognized the ships immediately and nearly forgot everything that had happened in the last hour. Six Kurnezi Class Battleships were lined up in a neat row. These weren’t the massive bulk of the modern Battleship, and were barely large enough to qualify, under modern standards, as a large cargo ship. Si walked slowly towards the nearest ship. The Kurnezi Class hadn’t been used as a warship for four thousand years, and were only used for ceremony until around eight-hundred years ago when the production line was ended and they were all dismantled or used for target practice. Si stopped under the rear engines and reached his hand up. The Kurnezi Class Battleship was the ship that had struck fear into the people of the first planet the Kitsune conquered when they had appeared over the island cities of Carina, a species that then believed they were the only species in the Universe. “From the crest on your tunic you must be Emperor Sionnach,” said a Daraian walking up to Si. Si turned to the Daraian. He was dressed different than the Ravens dressed. “Yes,” said Si. “I’m Lord Sparrow, where are the others?” “They are getting the supplies together,” replied Si. “Start loading when they get here,” said Lord Sparrow, “and I don’t care what ships anyone gets on, just make sure you are the far right one. I’ll be piloting that one personally.” Si nodded and went back to looking at the Battleship. Lord Tolnor arrived with Si’s army, the servants, the Ravens, a few palace soldiers, and The Black Guard forty-five minutes later. The loading went smoother than Si had thought it would, but Lord Tolnor was in his element right now. Si called a few of his orphan-warriors and Marshal over. The boys gathered around Si and listened to his plan for the escape. Si changed tunics with one of the other boys and then merged in with the crowd of boys climbing onto different ships. Seph got onto the first ship and went up to the bridge and told Lord Sparrow everyone was loaded and ready to go. “Where’s Emperor Sionnach?” asked Lord Sparrow. “He is dressed as one of the orphan-warriors and hidden on one of the other ships,” said Seph. “He knew you were planning to sacrifice the other ships to make sure you got this one away. He says to tell you that all ships make it or Lord Raven will be very upset if you lose him, and you know what happens then.” Lord Sparrow slammed his fist down on the console. “Damn sly son of a fox dog,” said Lord Sparrow. “I hate the Kitsune, now go sit down before I throw you out a hatch.” Lord Sparrow gave the signal to raise the powerful hydraulic launch doors far above the launch tunnels while Seph returned to his seat. “Well,” asked Si. “He says you’re a wonderfully clever little fox,” said Seph. Si laughed. “Naw, I just figured Sparrows are probably as dumb as Ravens,” said Si. “The Ravens saved us, cousin,” scolded Seph. “The Ravens killed my father,” Si’s eyes narrowed. “They are just trying to get me to forget that.” Akio sat on the other side of Si and knew Tarin had created his own problems years ago, but maybe Si would realize that someday when he was older, this wasn’t the time to argue with him. They still had to get passed seven Battle Carriers in orbit. The Battleships launched up through launch tunnels that hadn’t been used since Emperor Tarin put these ships here eight-hundred years ago. The six ships rose into the radioactive cloud rising from the remains of House Kitsune.